Scotland has been voted the world’s most beautiful country – here’s why

If the blue (if chilly) waters of Calgary Bay don’t charm you, perhaps the delicious dread of Glencoe will. As Scotland tops a poll as the most stunning place on the planet, a local suggests the sights for which eyes were invented

A delightful mix of smugness and lack of surprise is being felt across Scotland at the news that a Rough Guide readers’ poll has named ours the most beautiful country in the world. Is the feeling intensified by the fact that England came a mere seventh? Of course not. We have no time for such petty rivalries, being too busy admiring the lochs and castles and sunning ourselves (well, perhaps not) on the wild beaches that Rough Guide praised. There is beauty all over Scotland, but here are five sights for which eyes – and the word “jings” – were invented.